The Wine Press and Simplicity
Actual Wine Press Used
An age old problem in the art of eggroll crafting has always been excess water that leads to soggy eggrolls. Usually from the cooked, moist vegetables that composed much of the filling, not drying the vegetables could often be a fatal mistake. Furthermore, the time required to dry them slowed the entire process down. Too often, a novice cook would invest hours of work in a batch of eggrolls only to have them ruined by wet cabbage. However, my grandfather solved this problem with some ingenuity and an old-wine press.
As soon as the vegetables were done cooking in the huge silver pots, they would be shipped down the line to be drained and pressed. As soon as possible, a worker would toss the vegetables in a wide strainer as a white cloud erupted in a hot plume of steam. Soon after, the vegetables would be squeezed with the strong wine press to become crisp and springy. This peculiar technique allowed much higher quality eggrolls, as well as taking out the time-consuming step of air-drying them. The small wine-press depicted in the picture is the actual tool used for decades in the factory.
Just as the wine-press removed the necessary components of the vegetables and placed them in their simplest form, I try to retain a sense of simplicity in everything I do. Removing oneself from distractions and concentrating on what matters most is an invaluable process that help to lead a focused life, away from material distractions.
These poems reflect on simplicity. They try to answer what simplicity is, as well as it's value in one's life. Included after every one is some sort of analysis and personal reflection.
-Robert Chun
As soon as the vegetables were done cooking in the huge silver pots, they would be shipped down the line to be drained and pressed. As soon as possible, a worker would toss the vegetables in a wide strainer as a white cloud erupted in a hot plume of steam. Soon after, the vegetables would be squeezed with the strong wine press to become crisp and springy. This peculiar technique allowed much higher quality eggrolls, as well as taking out the time-consuming step of air-drying them. The small wine-press depicted in the picture is the actual tool used for decades in the factory.
Just as the wine-press removed the necessary components of the vegetables and placed them in their simplest form, I try to retain a sense of simplicity in everything I do. Removing oneself from distractions and concentrating on what matters most is an invaluable process that help to lead a focused life, away from material distractions.
These poems reflect on simplicity. They try to answer what simplicity is, as well as it's value in one's life. Included after every one is some sort of analysis and personal reflection.
-Robert Chun
